Traditionalist Anglican leaders are threatening to snub the new Archbishop of Canterbury in a furious row over gay clergy.
Conservative archbishops from Africa and Asia, who are among Anglicanism’s most senior clerics, are planning to boycott a meeting called by Archbishop
Justin Welby that is scheduled to take place after his enthronement this week.
The leaders are flying in for Archbishop Welby’s formal installation service in Canterbury Cathedral on Thursday.
The archbishops are stamping their feet, too. The African prelates, the Primate of Kenya, Archbishop Eliud Wabukala
, the Primate of Nigeria, Archbishop Nicholas Okoh, and the Primate of Uganda, Archbishop Stanley Ntagali are angry because the Church of England will allow partnered gay clergy to become bishops, so long as they promise to remain celibate. They wasted no time throwing down the gauntlet. I hope and pray the Archbishop of Canterbury does not give in to the bullying tactics.
They are also unlikely to sit at the same table as their liberal counterpart from the United States, Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, who has already consecrated openly gay bishops.
Fear of contamination? Or is it immaturity? With their threat not to sit at the same table as Katharine, they remind me of children in an elementary school cafeteria. The three archbishops need to grow up. If Justin gives in to the bullying, they will not be appeased but will smell weakness and follow up with further demands. We've seen this drama before, and I, for one, am tired of it and bored with it.
Let them throw their fit and miss their meeting; their loss, not ours. I am so tired of this bullying, this schoolyard nonsense.
ReplyDeleteExactly, Caminante. I hope Justin learned a bit from Rowan's mistakes.
DeleteMy big deal question is why these tiresome/irresponsible selectively ignorant non-gents-arch-troublemakers from Uganda and Kenya (and Nigeria) can't keep their eye on the spiritual ball and dwell on cleaning up their miserable garbage pit(s)of childwitchburning, vertical corruption (probably evangelical U.S. $$$ tainted as well), sex slavery, child and adult and rampant alcoholism and the simple ability to tell the truth to their clergy and laity at home about true corruption of the soul...these deceitful men, and they are men, are dangerous to other people, their LGBTI fellow citizens and heterosexuals who wish to be honorable anywhere! These are the contaminators of humanity and many thrive on the pain of others. Let them sit where they like after the enthronement and mumble into their blooddrenched and dirty hands...let them slur and sling their vicious fears and hate into their unholy space. They, the archbishops of denial, are accomplices to acts of denial, pretend and worse...the ill gotten legacy of selfrighteousness and PRIDE at Church.
DeleteYes, why don't the African archbishops tend to their own affairs instead of poking their noses into what's happening in other provinces? They have plenty to keep them busy in their own countries.
DeleteBecause dealing with their own Countries troubles would be a lot of work. Far easier to throw stones at a manufactured external enemy to distract from their own failings.
DeleteYes, focusing other people's transgressions is a wonderful distraction from having to deal with one's own.
DeleteThe African archbishops have to earn their Radical-Right largesse. Taking of which, there have been some interesting antics going on at Truro, Va's ACNA church recently, haven't there?
ReplyDeleteWonder who talked Welby into that cope and mitre.
Yes, the events at Truro are interesting.
DeleteDo you think Justin's vestments are too flashy?
Sigh. I don't think he has learned anything from Rowan's mistakes because of this statement.
ReplyDelete"He is so concerned he has appointed the Church’s first ‘director of reconciliation’, Canon David Porter of Coventry Cathedral, to broker a peace."
OCICBW but I don't think you can/could/should try to broker a peace with bullies. It has been said that how people treat others is a reflection of their image of God and I think that's true. Bullies usually just want their own way and reconciliation isn't a part of what they want. The wheels on their little hate bus just keep going round and round.
The invitations were sent, and whoever shows up, shows up. If you don't like the other people at the party, then don't go, and there is should rest.
DeleteOops! "...there it should rest."
DeleteIf Justin is wise, he will say what any wise pastor would to a recalcitrant parishioner: I'm very sorry you feel that way, and hope you will find a parish that meets your spiritual needs. The one great thing to get over is the fear of "losing" people. Those who "choose to walk apart" are not lost, they're just heading in a different direction. Who know but that the paths may again converge somewhere down the line...?
ReplyDeleteTobias, you are exactly right. The fear of "losing" people can lead to disaster, such as Rowan's decision to ask Jeffrey John to stand down from his appointment as Bishop of Reading. I don't believe the ABC ever recovered from the debacle, and that's to say nothing about the injury done to Jeffrey.
DeleteOr, one might say,
DeleteNot all who wander are lost.
And who knows better than Aragorn?
One might well say that, Porlock. :-)
DeleteTobias, I half agree with you, but these people are not quite in the same category as typical parishioners--these are people who are supposedly modeling for millions of their "parishioners" what it is like to be a follower of Jesus.
ReplyDeleteWhy are they so reluctant to socialize with those they regard as wrong? Is it because they are afraid that people might think they agree with the "apostates"? Is it because they are afraid that their own minds might change a little if they expose themselves to other ideas?
Jesus did not refuse to dine with those who were branded as sinners. Jesus did not refuse to dine with those who branded him as a sinner. He placed his love of all God's people above any threats to his own reputation. Should not those who claim to represent him do likewise?
Bill, Justin can't make the archbishops socialize. He can only invite and let the chips fall where they may. Now if he disinvites as a result of the complaints of the African prelates, that's a whole other thing.
DeleteBill, I echo Mimi's sentiments. I think they should attend, but no one can make them do so. Their idea of the church is a pure society in which all agree and can therefore meet (the Global South has several time mis-applied the verse, "Can two walk together unless they agree," Amos 3.3., leaving out the important "...to meet"). This is, as you point out, entirely the opposite of Jesus' approach.
DeletePerhaps ABC Justin should refuse to associate with them, before they are given the option of embarrassing him. Simply don't invite them to the meeting. Snub taken.
ReplyDeleteUKViewer, I expect the invitations have already gone out, and, as the host, Justin can hardly refuse to associate with them. However, courtesy does not require him to make special arrangements to shield the archbishops from other guests they don't like.
DeleteWell I think this little sword cuts both ways:
DeleteQuoting Bill Ghirst: "Why are they so reluctant to socialize with those they regard as wrong? Is it because they are afraid that people might think they agree with the "apostates"?
Bill in my case, I think the answer is "yes." It is a dilemma. If I find myself in a situation where someone is getting demonized and marginalized, my usual response is to throw that person under a bus. Not good.
Watch those same archbishops eventually complain about the "lack of dialogue."
ReplyDeleteCounterlight, the archbishops will very likely find a way to play the victim and elaborate on how they've been wronged.
DeleteAh, but what they want isn't dialogue. What they want is complete agreement with what they believe.
DeleteOf course, susan s. The "faith handed down", as the archbishops see it.
DeleteAlso a great opportunity to plot, don't forget.
ReplyDeleteWhen are the archbishops and their cohorts not plotting? That's what they do.
DeleteAll this fuss comes from parts of Africa where evangelical missionaries had a lot of influence. Go figure!
ReplyDeleteStrange, isn't it? Apparently, the evangelical African bishops don't think Justin is evangelical enough.
Delete